Three Simple Words
by My Quiet Riot
Summary: '"And I love you," he finishes. I cannot believe what I just heard. He said he loves me. Three simple words that make my heart pound out of my chest.' One-shot. Rated 'T' for slight sensuality.


**Hello! C: So I know I'm writing the Hunger Games fanfic from Peeta's POV, but I'm putting that on hold for now, because with school starting, I don't have time to write an entire 27-chapter story. I'll write when I can, of course, but I wanted to go back to some Cause of Death stuff. I promised a Maltara one-shot, so here it is. C: Also, I normally write in 3rd person, because I like getting into all of the character's minds; but I decided to try 1st person from Natara's POV. It's a long one-shot, but I like it & I hope you do, too. Review & tell me what you think, please? C: Enjoy!**

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It is Labor Day. We all sit around a roaring bonfire, sometimes talking and sometimes relaxing silently, lost in thought. Though we are no longer in high school, and the season technically has yet to change, it still feels like the end of summer. Soon the breeze would blow cooler and the leaves would turn brilliant shades of red and yellow and orange, then fall off their branches completely. The late-summer sky is a dark blue that will soon be black with the tranquil darkness of night. Tall trees loom above us and cast shadows that dance around the fire. Crickets chirp in the distance, and somewhere overhead, a tree rustles, indicating a squirrel's late-night scampering. The ocean's gentle waves lap against the quiet shore about 30 yards from where we sit. I carefully toss another log on the fire, causing the dwindling flames to spark to life again. We all reflexively move in closer, seeking the fire's warm embrace to shield us from the brisk ocean breeze.

I look around at the others who circle the fire accompanying me. Mal sits to my left, joking idly with Jeremy, who sits next to him. Blaise sits next to Jeremy, scowling at a probably-bad joke Kai is making. Amy sits next to me, perched on the edge of a large log and contentedly staring into the crackling flames. Ken sits on the other side of Amy, idly prodding the embers of the fire with a long, damp stick. We are all casually dressed- blue jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts- which is a bit weird to see at first, considering the majority of the time we spend together is at the precinct whilst dressed in work clothes.

A chilly gust of wind blows through suddenly, causing me to shiver. I pull the sleeves of my over-sized sweatshirt over my wrists, scooting closer to the fire.

"Cold?" Mal asks, glancing over at me. Jeremy has turned to Blaise, and Amy and Ken are unfortunately left to endure Kai's jokes.

"Yeah," I say suppressing a shiver and nodding the affirmative. Mal scoots closer to me and wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. I feel the his body-heat radiate towards me, and I gratefully accept the warmth. I glance up at him and he smiles down at me; I can't help but smile back. We both simultaneously direct our gazes back to the flames, silently listening to the crackle of the burning wood and the gentle sound of the ocean's waves lapping carelessly at the sandy shore. Fire and water are two of the things that I could watch or listen to forever, and honestly never get tired of.

None of us talk; we silently sit and enjoy nature's sounds. Unfortunately, the peaceful human silence is abruptly interrupted by Kai. "Ya' wanna hear a story?" he asks eagerly, looking at us expectantly.

"Not in particular," Blaise mutters dryly, shooting a cold glare at Kai and sliding closer to Jeremy.

"Not right now, Kai," Amy replies gently, picking up a book that had previously rested next to her, pretending to read from its pages.

"Don't even start, Kalaba," Mal growls, narrowing his deep blue eyes at Kai.

Jeremy and I remain silent, but exchange an exasperated glance. If I have to hear one more of Kai's stories this week, I quite frankly might just go crazy.

"So this one time, I was playing the Sims," Kai starts, ignoring the dissenting opinions. Jeremy and Blaise groan, exchanging an aggravated look. Amy just rolls her eyes and buries her nose deeper in the book she is holding. Ken suppresses a deep sigh and directs his full attention to the heart of the blazing flames.

Mal glances over at me and sighs. Our gazes meet, and he motions towards the ocean, wordlessly inquiring if I'd like to get away from the group (or more specifically, Kai) for a while. I nod eagerly, and Mal stands, extending a hand down to me to help me up. I take it gratefully, pulling myself up and straightening my sweatshirt. Kai doesn't even glance our way as we quietly steal off towards the beach. As we turn to walk toward the ocean, I quickly glance back over my shoulder. Blaise sits leaning against Jeremy, and one of Jeremy's arms is draped over Blaise's shoulder. Amy has moved close to Ken, gently leaning into him. Both sets ignore Kai's outlandish Sim-tale, but he doesn't seem to notice; and if he does, he doesn't care. Kai continues on his merry story-telling way, oblivious to the lack of attention payed to him. I try to suppress the slight jealousy I feel at both 'couples', but I push it away and force my thoughts to what was practical. Love was just a distraction I wasn't cut out for, anyways.

As we approach the water, Mal kicks off his shoes and rolls up his jeans to just above his ankles. Quickly catching on, I follow suit, and soon we're both ankle-deep in the cool water. I take a breath of the salty air, enjoying the feeling of waves lapping at my ankles. Another gust of wind blows through, and I involuntarily shiver again. Mal glances over at me and again wraps an arm around my shoulder. He pulls me closer to him so that our sides touch. I gently lean into him, letting Mal warm me. Suddenly he lets go of my shoulder and turns towards me, staring directly into my eyes. I turn to face him, too, returning the gaze. I momentarily feel those stupid high school butterflies in my stomach, but I try to ignore them. I have Oscar, and Mal and I are just best friends, and nothing more... right?

He opens his mouth a couple times, like he's about to say something, but then closes it again and slightly turns away. I think about simply letting it drop, but my curiosity gets the better of me.

"What?" I question, lightly touching his arm. He turns to face me again, but doesn't quite meet my eyes.

"I, uh... Nothing. Don't worry about it," he says back, still avoiding my gaze.

"Mal, c'mon," I coax gently, wanting to know what he was going to say.

"I said nevermind. It's nothing, Nat. Really." I try to get him to look at me again, but he won't; he peers out at the vast ocean instead.

"Mal, you can tell me anything. You know that," I say reassuringly.

"I know," he replies, still refusing to look me in the eye. "It's just..."

"It's just what?" I prod again gently, wanting to know but not fully wanting to invade if it was something he wasn't ready to tell me yet.

He finally meets my gaze, and I almost get lost in the deep ocean-blue of his eyes. I silently tell myself to snap out of it. Mal and I are friends. Just friends. No matter how much I secretly wish we were more, we are just friends. That's just how we are.

"It's just..." he says, trailing off a bit. He slowly reaches out and brushes back a few loose strands of my hair that had apparently found its way out of the loose bun I had thrown it in earlier. He takes a deep breath before continuing, like he's trying to muster up the courage to say something.

"Mal, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I finally say after several seconds of silence. If he wanted me to know, he would have told me by now. Again, I silently chastise the feelings in my stomach, urging them to go away. Nothing could happen between us. I have Oscar, and I'm sure Mal has plenty of other women chasing after him. He could probably get anyone he wants, so why would he choose me, anyways? That would be dumb. Sure, I'm a good profiler and I'm his partner; but aside from it just being a business relationship, when it really comes down to it, I'm just as insecure about love as I was in high school. You'd think after 10-plus years, I'd conquer that fear. I get held at gun-point or threatened with a knife on a near-daily basis, but the thing I'm scared of is _love_. I mean, how completely _lame_ is that?

"No," he says quickly, briefly looking away. He inhales again, nervously _still_ avoiding my gaze. I wish he would look at me. Finally, he looks up and meets my gaze again. "I want to tell you. It's just..." He trails off again, and I begin to get the feeling that he really doesn't want to tell me. I sigh and turn back to the ocean, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Nevermind, Mal, it's okay. If you don't want to tell me, it's fine. Really."

"No," he says firmly, gently grabbing my shoulders and turning me around so I'm facing him again. I stare up at him expectantly; since he turned me around, he must want to tell me something. I silently urge him to continue, and after a few seconds, he does.

"It's just that you're my best friend, and you're beautiful and smart and funny and brave..." He pauses momentarily, and I stand in silent shock, staring at him. I feel my cheeks heat up, but I don't look away. He returns my gaze, and I'm surprised to see a certain fire in his eyes. I can't put my finger on what exactly it is, but I know it's there. I'm also hoping the darkness hides the incredible blush that has now surely crept to my face.

"And I love you," he finishes. I cannot believe what I just heard. He said he loves me. Three simple words that make my heart pound out of my chest. We stand staring at each other for a second, before he moves swiftly towards me, covering the foot-or-so between us in a split-second. He puts his hand behind my head and pulls me to him, bending down slightly so our lips meet. Then he kisses me. I am surprised at first, but the feeling I get when our lips collide is so much better than anything I've ever felt before. When he feels me kissing back, he slides his other hand down to my waist, pulling me closer to him. I rest one hand on his shoulder and I wrap the other around his neck. I feel his hand move from behind my head to my hair. I feel his fingers run through it, and the sensation causes me to involuntarily shiver. After a few seconds, both of his hands slide down to my hips, and I feel him gently tug upwards. Taking the cue, I jump up and wrap my legs around him, wrapping both arms around his neck. Surprisingly, he doesn't stagger back at all. I feel his hands under my thighs, supporting me as he leans into me. I lean into him, too, pushing him backwards a little. I must have pushed him unexpectedly hard, though, because he staggers backwards a few steps, before losing his footing and falling, sending us both toppling into the freezing cold ocean water. I let out a shriek as he falls backwards, and I land on top of him. We are both soaked within seconds as the ocean sends bleak waves of cold water washing over us. He yelps at the brisk water, but then starts laughing. I laugh, too, and soon we're both jumping up from the cold water, laughing hysterically. We stagger back to the shore, collapsing on the sand, shivering thoroughly.

"Oh my God," I gasp out between laughs. "I'm f-freezing c-cold."

"So am I," he says, laughing and wrapping his arms around me. Suddenly, we hear shouts behind us, from the direction of the fire. We both whip around and see Blaise, Jeremy, Amy, Ken, and even Kai, smiling and shouting approval.

"Finally!" exclaims Ken, tossing his head back. "I thought this day would never come!"

"At last!" Amy says with a laugh.

"It's about time!" Blaise shouts loudly.

"My fanfictions have come true!" Kai adds triumphantly.

I exchange a playful glance with Mal and we both laugh, rolling our eyes at Kai's comment. We pull our freezing selves up from the sand and run towards the fire, laughing the whole way there. We reach the fire where the others are, and immediately drop down beside it, seeking warmth and hoping it would dry our soaked clothes a bit. Mal wraps his arms around me, laughing and trying to warm me up. I smile up at him, and laugh at the whoops and cat-calls Blaise, Ken, and Kai are making. Amy and Jeremy sit silently smiling at us.

In that moment- with Mal's arms around me, laughing around a bonfire- I realize I am happy. Maybe I really am cut out for this love thing after all. It momentarily crosses my mind that I have now technically cheated on Oscar, and I would have to end things with him. I tense at the thought, and Mal seems to sense my apprehension, because his arms tighten around me and he pulls me closer to him. Yes, I would have to tell Oscar; and it would probably be a very unpleasant conversation. But I could think about that later. Right now, wrapped in Mal's strong arms and being surrounded by my friends, I am happy, and I will enjoy this night.


End file.
